Mozzie magnets and Bangra bass boxes!
It’s official – I’m a babe magnet. The female of the species of Aedes Aegypti feeds exclusively on human sources, and for the Thane population, I am truly ‘where it’s at’ right now! The bedroom of flat 502 Sarnath Building, Lok Upvan, Thane, is the place to dine. Yes, Mumbai is proving mozzytastic. I’ve managed to combat the onslaught so far with only moderate success, fans and deet notwithstanding, so I went into Thane yesterday to get a net to protect myself with! I met a lovely chap who owns a local stationary shop near where I am living, called Deepak, and he was the one who gave me directions to the shop where I got the mosquito net, and told me what price to pay – he said the owner was a very fair and honest man and would not take advantage of me. Which turned out to be perfectly true, and I got my net as well as a lovely cup of Chai (sweet and sometimes spicy milky Indian tea).
Thane is as haywire as main down town Mumbai – a zillion rickshaws and bicycles, lots of fumes and dust and crazy street sellers everywhere and colours and – India truly is an assault on the senses. I am starting to feel safer here walking around and talking to people now. As adapt to the manic pace of everything, I am starting to be able to open my eyes more to the different sights and strange new things around me. People seem to sell everything here. If you don’t have a shop it doesn’t matter, you just crouch down somewhere at the side of the road and display what you have in a bowl or on a mat. Sometimes people are just selling one or two types of fruit, sometimes some string or other useful bits and bobs along side it, a few pairs of shoes etc. etc. I keep wanting to take photos but it seems wrong, and somehow disrespectful to them to do it for the novelty factor. The ride back was hilarious – a rickshaw but one which had put a bass box and stereo speakers into the back of it, so was whizzing along through traffic with 1000 decibel bangra music blaring in my ears. Plus the guy driving kept doing this really funny grooving thing with his head, like out of the peugeout Ad – I kept having visions of him driving into a wall, or getting an elephant to sit on the front of the rickshaw. It was difficult trying to hold on and block my ears at the same time. Thankfully the tape stopped about half way and he didn’t start it up again.
Last night, I went to Jessi’s house with Andrew and Genevieve, for dinner – Jessi is one of the administrative staff who helps in out patients and a Christian. Her husband was killed on a building site in an accident in 1996, and she has worked at Lok ever since it started. Her daughter Lynette was also there – she is a vivacious and lively 22 year old, and a Christian too. She is just finishing her final year at university. She and a friend shared the gospel with one of their fellow students (amongst many others) who came from a Sikh family. Through hearing the gospel from them, he came to know about Jesus and met with him personally, and was saved. He shaved his beard, cut his hair, took off his turban and publicly declared his faith in Jesus, and was baptised. His name is Ranjit. His family were furious, and threatened to kill both him and Lynette. They initially threw out Ranjit on to the street. So he lived rough for a few months, kipping with friends and people from the church and continuing to work. Eventually, his family realised that what had happened was real and that he would not change his mind, so they said he could come back and they would accept the change, although they are still very angry. There has been a severe cost to Lynette too; the family phoned up all their university friends and told them to avoid her as she was dangerous and just wanted to convert people. It is quite humbling to see how hard it is for those sharing the gospel and yet to see how faithfully they do it. It is a real challenge to our “embarrassment” – our reluctance to share the gospel with our colleagues friends and family wherever we can, seen in this light, seems nothing more than basic cowardice and faithlessness
On the Delhi Belly front, I seem to be doing rather well so far. Health wise, generally, the Aussie’s and Dr Stephen are both poorly with some virus cold thing, but I have not yet gone down with it. Actually, I am worried I may have brought it with me, since the symptoms are a lot like some of the stuff I got while I was doing general practice, which I had just gotten over when I arrived in Thane. Worse, it appears that John Forbes, an American who has AIDS but is a born-again Christian and works in HIV ministry and is staying with Stephen at the moment, has also caught it. He has been travelling for 4 years now and in the 7 long haul trips he has done in that time he has never gotten ill this is the first time. He has a low CD4 count (around 184) so this is particularly hard for him.
Well that’s all for now folks as I have to go out…
Will try and sort photos out this week,
Dunc
Thane is as haywire as main down town Mumbai – a zillion rickshaws and bicycles, lots of fumes and dust and crazy street sellers everywhere and colours and – India truly is an assault on the senses. I am starting to feel safer here walking around and talking to people now. As adapt to the manic pace of everything, I am starting to be able to open my eyes more to the different sights and strange new things around me. People seem to sell everything here. If you don’t have a shop it doesn’t matter, you just crouch down somewhere at the side of the road and display what you have in a bowl or on a mat. Sometimes people are just selling one or two types of fruit, sometimes some string or other useful bits and bobs along side it, a few pairs of shoes etc. etc. I keep wanting to take photos but it seems wrong, and somehow disrespectful to them to do it for the novelty factor. The ride back was hilarious – a rickshaw but one which had put a bass box and stereo speakers into the back of it, so was whizzing along through traffic with 1000 decibel bangra music blaring in my ears. Plus the guy driving kept doing this really funny grooving thing with his head, like out of the peugeout Ad – I kept having visions of him driving into a wall, or getting an elephant to sit on the front of the rickshaw. It was difficult trying to hold on and block my ears at the same time. Thankfully the tape stopped about half way and he didn’t start it up again.
Last night, I went to Jessi’s house with Andrew and Genevieve, for dinner – Jessi is one of the administrative staff who helps in out patients and a Christian. Her husband was killed on a building site in an accident in 1996, and she has worked at Lok ever since it started. Her daughter Lynette was also there – she is a vivacious and lively 22 year old, and a Christian too. She is just finishing her final year at university. She and a friend shared the gospel with one of their fellow students (amongst many others) who came from a Sikh family. Through hearing the gospel from them, he came to know about Jesus and met with him personally, and was saved. He shaved his beard, cut his hair, took off his turban and publicly declared his faith in Jesus, and was baptised. His name is Ranjit. His family were furious, and threatened to kill both him and Lynette. They initially threw out Ranjit on to the street. So he lived rough for a few months, kipping with friends and people from the church and continuing to work. Eventually, his family realised that what had happened was real and that he would not change his mind, so they said he could come back and they would accept the change, although they are still very angry. There has been a severe cost to Lynette too; the family phoned up all their university friends and told them to avoid her as she was dangerous and just wanted to convert people. It is quite humbling to see how hard it is for those sharing the gospel and yet to see how faithfully they do it. It is a real challenge to our “embarrassment” – our reluctance to share the gospel with our colleagues friends and family wherever we can, seen in this light, seems nothing more than basic cowardice and faithlessness
On the Delhi Belly front, I seem to be doing rather well so far. Health wise, generally, the Aussie’s and Dr Stephen are both poorly with some virus cold thing, but I have not yet gone down with it. Actually, I am worried I may have brought it with me, since the symptoms are a lot like some of the stuff I got while I was doing general practice, which I had just gotten over when I arrived in Thane. Worse, it appears that John Forbes, an American who has AIDS but is a born-again Christian and works in HIV ministry and is staying with Stephen at the moment, has also caught it. He has been travelling for 4 years now and in the 7 long haul trips he has done in that time he has never gotten ill this is the first time. He has a low CD4 count (around 184) so this is particularly hard for him.
Well that’s all for now folks as I have to go out…
Will try and sort photos out this week,
Dunc
posted by Duncan at 10:06 am
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